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Annual visit weekend draws record number of visitors

Fall Access, Asbury’s largest annual visit day for high school students, drew a record number of visitors last Thursday through Friday (Nov. 7-8). According to Valarie McKinney, visit coordinator for the Admissions Office, 78 students attended Fall Access, a 34 percent increase from last year.

McKinney says Fall Access is “extremely important in the decision making process for students” because it gives them an inside perspective on life at Asbury.

“Being on campus allows them to visualize themselves here as students,” she said. “We create the programming for Fall Access so that they walk through the day in the life of a current student. We plan for lots of interactions between current students and faculty members.”

According to Mark Troyer, vice president for enrollment management, more than 160 current Asbury students participated in a fall visit weekend, not including “spring visits or scholarship weekends or private visits.”

McKinney attributes the success of Fall Access to the cooperation of students and faculty in addition to the efforts of the Admissions staff.

“It’s definitely a team event,” she said. “We have lots of current students who offer to host visitors in their residence halls, lots of professors and coaches who schedule individual meetings with visitors, as well as allowing students to sit in on classes and practices.”

Junior Micah Hubin works with the Admissions Office as an Asbury Ambassador, or student recruiting assistant. He says that Fall Access offers a unique window into life at Asbury.

“They just have a day and a half of living on campus, going to lunch with their host and experiencing their daily schedule in a customizable way that they can do as much or as little as they want,” Hubin said. “I have to say that Fall Access provides a hands-on way for students to experience the community of Asbury in a way that can’t be explained through words and presentations.”